Spreading

Area

Distributed in the mountainous regions of Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Eastern Kazakhstan, Altai Territory and Tuva. Acclimatization experiments are being carried out in the Crimean and Transcarpathian regions. Outside Russia, it is also found on the Balkan Peninsula in Southwestern and Central Asia, and in Northern China.

Biotope

Keklik prefers to stay in mountain gorges with rocky areas, along the bottom of which rivers flow. Lives in the mountains; in summer it rises to the line of eternal snow, sometimes found on plains adjacent to mountains; it also extends into deserts along outcrops and hills. When deep snow falls in the mountains, it migrates down to areas with little snow. In the Caucasus it rises in the mountains up to 3000 m, in the Tien Shan - up to 2500 m. However, chukars are most numerous in the lower belt of mountains, up to a height of 1500 m, in areas with semi-desert vegetation.

Ecology

Behavior

It is not without reason that the chukar is called the stone partridge: its life is closely connected with stones, cliffs, and mountains. It inhabits deep gorges and rocky mountain slopes from the upper border of the forest to the eternal snow, river canyons in the mountains and foothills. Life in rugged terrain, where, due to the cover of rocks, enemies can sneak up close, has imbued the habits of this bird with peculiar features of speed of movement and caution. Strong legs with strong muscles make the chukar an excellent runner, and short, wide wings and strong pectoral muscles provide it with sudden take-off and fast flight over short distances. The chukar spends most of its life on the ground and rarely perches on bushes or trees. In case of danger, young birds hide, while adults first run, and then, with noise and clucking, break away and fly in a hasty and impetuous (but not fast) flight and soon descend, running away on foot. When feeding, they move up or along the mountainside, but never run down. The chukar leads a mostly sedentary lifestyle, but when snow falls in the mountains, it makes small vertical migrations, moving to areas with little snow.

Reproduction

Monogamous, begins to reproduce in the first year of life. In March, with the establishment of stable warm weather, winter flocks of chukars gradually disintegrate and the birds form married pairs.

The female makes a nest on the ground, usually on the southern slope of the asala, under a canopy of stones, under a bush, less often openly among stones. Chukars sometimes nest in the same nest for several years in a row. The hole in the ground is lined with sparse grass stems and hen feathers. Along the edges of the nest there is a cushion of small crushed stone or dry twigs. Individual pairs nest 100 - 150 m from each other, and sometimes 10 - 30 m. Having occupied their area, the birds protect it from the invasion of other chukars, and the female also participates in fights.

Rock partridge is very prolific. The female can lay from 7 to 22 eggs, with an average of 14-15 eggs per clutch. The eggs are pear-shaped, pale fawn in color with small specks. The weight of the eggs is 19-23 g. The eggs are apparently incubated by one female, for about 24 days. In some pairs, the male also takes part in incubation (males with hereditary spots were often caught). The female lays one clutch per year. If the nest dies, the female joins flocks of separately flying males and single females.

The chicks hatch weak and leave the nest after one or two days. The female takes them away from the nest immediately 150 m away. At two to three weeks of age, neighboring broods unite into flocks of 30-40 birds. In some cases, the male also stays with the brood.

Nutrition

The main food for chukars are seeds, fruits, leaves, green shoots, bulbs and tubers of various plants. They also eat animal food - insects, spiders, mollusks and other invertebrate animals. Water plays a very important role in the life of these birds. In the heat of summer, they regularly visit a watering hole two and sometimes three times a day, sometimes running 2 km or more to reach it.

Description

Keklik (stone partridge) is an unusually beautiful bird. The coloration above is bluish-gray with pink and olive hues, the light buff throat and cheeks are bordered by a wide black stripe that runs through the eyes to the forehead. The crop and chest are bluish-gray, the abdomen is buffy. On the sides of the body there are wide black, red and white transverse stripes. The tail is red, with the exception of the central pair of tail feathers, which are the same color as the back. The legs and beak are bright red.

[Copyright Ukolov Ilya]

The female is smaller than the male and has no spurs on her paws. The weight of males in autumn is 500 - 630 g, females - 370 - 500 g.

The chukar is a very lively and cautious bird that spends its entire life on the ground. Sensing danger, it quickly runs up the slope, then noisily breaks off the ground and flies hastily with a clucking cry to the opposite side of the gorge.

The general tone of the rock partridge's plumage is ocher with a pinkish tint. Sexual and seasonal dimorphism in color is weakly expressed. The dorsal side is olive-gray. The forehead, the spot in the corner of the mouth, the stripe on the sides of the head, extending to the crop and surrounding the neck in front, are black. The chest is bluish-gray. The abdomen is ocher-yellow; approximately the same color and sides, on which black and chestnut transverse stripes stand out sharply. There is a naked ring around the eyes, the beak and legs are red, the eyes are dark brown. The upperparts of the young are brown with a reddish coating, the underparts are grayish with white speckles on the chest and crop. After the autumn molt, the outfit is approximately the same as that of adult birds, the plumage is only somewhat duller and paler.

Type:

Class:

Squad:

Galliformes - Galliformes

Systematic position

The pheasant family is Phasianidae.

Status

5 “Insufficiently studied” - 5, NI.

Global Threat Category on the IUCN Red List

"Least Concern" - Least Concern, LC ver. 3.1 (2001).

Category according to IUCN Red List criteria

The regional population belongs to the category “Data Deficient” - Data Deficient, DD. R. A. Mnatsekanov.

Belonging to the objects of international agreements and conventions ratified by the Russian Federation

Do not belong.

Brief morphological description

A small bird weighing up to 600 g. The general color tone is ash-gray. A narrow strip of black feathers stretches from the forehead around the throat. The throat is white or yellowish. There are black transverse stripes on the sides of the body. The beak, paws and eye ring are red.

Spreading

Global range: Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southern Kazakhstan, southeast of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Western and Central Asia. In the Russian Federation, the chukar inhabits the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, western and southern Altai. In the KK, the chukar belongs to the nesting sedentary species. The regional range includes separate tracts of the GKH, Peredovoy and Skalistoy ridges from the upper reaches of the river. Kishi to the border with the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

Features of biology and ecology

Typical habitats are rocky screes, alternating with subalpine and alpine vegetation. Birds make nests on the ground. There are 8–13 eggs in a clutch, incubation lasts 24–25 days. The basis of the chukar's diet is plant food - the fruits of alpine shrubs: blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus), lingonberries (Vaccinium visitidea), vegetative parts of herbaceous plants.

Number and its trends

In the southern region of Russia, the total number of the species is estimated at 5–15 thousand individuals. In some districts of the Western Caucasus, in particular near the borders of the Teberdinsky Nature Reserve, the chekli population density reaches 5 individuals per 1 km2. In KK it is a rare, little-studied species. There are only a few known habitats of this species, where birds were observed relatively regularly on the Peredovoy Range. (mountains Akhtsarkhva, Magisho). The total number of the species, according to expert estimates, does not exceed 20–30 individuals.

Limiting factors

Predation of some species of mammals and birds. Limited areas of suitable habitats.

Necessary and additional security measures

The species is protected on the territory of the State Nature Reserve. It is necessary to clarify the distribution area of ​​the chukar in KK and to create protected areas in the areas where it settles.

Information sources

1. Averin, Nasimovich, 1938; 2. Belik, 2005; 3. Ivanov, 1976; 4. Molamusov, 1959; 5. Stepanyan, 2003; 6. Tilba, 1999b; 7. Tkachenko, 1966; 8. IUCN, 2004.

Systematic position
Class: Birds - Aves.
Squad: Galliformes - Galliformes.
Family: Pheasants - Phasianidae.
View: Chukar - Alectoris chukar (Gray, 1830)

Status.

5 “Insufficiently studied” - 5, NI.

Global Threat Category on the IUCN Red List

"Least Concern" - Least Concern, LC ver. 3.1 (2001).

Category according to IUCN Red List criteria

The regional population belongs to the category “Data Deficient”, DD. R. A. Mnatsekanov.

Belonging to the objects of international agreements and conventions ratified by the Russian Federation

Do not belong.

Brief morphological description

Chukar is a small bird weighing up to 600 g. The general color tone is ash-gray. A narrow strip of black feathers stretches from the forehead around the throat. The throat is white or yellowish. There are black transverse stripes on the sides of the body. The beak, paws and eye ring are red.

Spreading

Global range: Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southern Kazakhstan, southeast of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Western and Central Asia. In the Russian Federation, the chukar inhabits the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, western and southern Altai. In the KK, the chukar belongs to the nesting sedentary species. The regional range includes separate tracts of the GKH, Peredovoy and Skalistoy ridges from the upper reaches of the river. Kishi to the border with the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

Features of biology and ecology

Typical habitats are rocky screes, alternating with subalpine and alpine vegetation. Birds make nests on the ground. There are 8–13 eggs in a clutch, incubation lasts 24–25 days. The basis of the chukar's diet is plant food - the fruits of alpine shrubs: blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus), lingonberries (Vaccinium visitidea), vegetative parts of herbaceous plants.

Number and its trends

In the southern region of Russia, the total number of the species is estimated at 5–15 thousand individuals. In some regions of the Western Caucasus, in particular near the borders of the Teberda Nature Reserve, the population density of the chukar reaches 5 individuals per 1 km2.

In KK it is a rare, little-studied species. There are only a few known habitats of this species, where birds were observed relatively regularly on the Peredovoy Range. (mountains Akhtsarkhva, Magisho). The total number of the species, according to expert estimates, does not exceed 20–30 individuals.

Limiting factors

Predation of some species of mammals and birds. Limited areas of suitable habitats.

Necessary and additional security measures

The species is protected on the territory of the State Nature Reserve. It is necessary to clarify the distribution area of ​​the chukar in KK and to create protected areas in the areas where it settles.

Information sources. 1. Averin, Nasimovich, 1938; 2. Belik, 2005; 3. Ivanov, 1976; 4. Molamusov, 1959; 5. Stepanyan, 2003; 6. Tilba, 1999b; 7. Tkachenko, 1966; 8. IUCN, 2004. Compiled. P. A. Tilba.

Species name:	Keklik
Latin name:	Alectoris kakelik (Falk, 1786)
English name:	Rock partridge
Latin synonyms:	Caccabis saxatilis Meyer, 1805–1809; Alectoris graeca Meisner, 1804; Perdix Chukar Gray, 1832
Russian synonyms:	rock partridge
Squad:
Family:
Genus:
Status:	Sedentary nesting species. In high mountains it makes vertical migrations and in some places (Tajikistan) distinct flights.

General characteristics and field characteristics

In appearance it resembles a gray partridge, but larger. The bluish-gray coloring of the upperparts, buffy underparts and transverse stripes on the sides make the bird almost invisible on the mountain slopes. Spends most of its life in flocks and only stays in pairs during the breeding season. Limited visibility in rough terrain makes communication between individual flocks and individuals difficult, and therefore the basis of communication is sound signals, among which the most characteristic is “ke-ke-lek” (hence the onomatopoeic name of the species - “kakelik”). In the spring, pairs talk in a quiet, pleasant-to-the-ear chirp, which can be heard from a distance of no more than 20 m. Where there are a lot of chukars, their voices can be heard throughout the day. Only during the incubation period and during the first time of raising the young do they become silent.

When danger appears, they quickly run up the slope or fly away, in some cases they hide. Running birds easily overcome rocky screes and areas of steep cliffs. People run downhill less often. Flight is used if there is a need to quickly reach the bottom of the gorge or escape from sudden danger. Taking off from the slope, the bird begins to rapidly glide. Take-off begins with frequent flapping, which alternates with flight on motionless wings. The maximum distance that chukars can fly when they take off from the top of a mountain is about 2 km (Popov, 1960).

They move through loose and deep snow with difficulty and in snowy winters they become easy prey for various predators. In places where they are pursued, chukars show special caution, but if they are not disturbed, they often live in close proximity to humans.

They feed on the ground, eating mainly plant food and to a lesser extent invertebrate animals. In very rare cases they can feed in trees. The methods of obtaining food are varied. The green parts of plants and fruits are first captured by the beak and then torn off. Birds dig up the underground parts of plants located in the upper layer of soil by alternating movements of their paws. Small bulbs located deeper in the ground are removed whole, and large ones are taken out in parts, using a beak to gouge vertical holes 8–10 cm deep in the soil.

Watering holes are of great importance in the life of chukars, which they mainly use in July-September. The frequency of visits depends on weather conditions and time of year. In the spring, when green parts of plants predominate in food, birds are rarely found near water, and in winter they do without water, pecking at snow.

Description

Coloring. Adult male and female. The plumage of the chukar is very beautiful: the upperparts are smoky gray with a wine tint on the front of the back and part of the wing coverts. A black stripe runs from the forehead through the eye to the ear, which borders the yellowish throat. The ear coverts are rufous. There are black spots at the corners of the mouth and at the base of the mandible. The primaries are brown; the outer webs have longitudinal buffy spots, forming a light apical stripe on the folded wing. The belly and lower tail coverts are buffy-yellow. There are 14 helmsmen, their color is chestnut-red. The middle pairs have a smoky gray color at the base of the feather. Feathers on the sides of the body with distinct black and brown transverse stripes. The feet, beak and eye ring are red. There is no sexual dimorphism in plumage color.

Juvenile outfit (males and females). The upperparts are grayish-brown, with light triangular apical spots on the feathers. The underside of the body is paler with vague transverse brown stripes. The top of the head (“cap”) is buffy. The beak is black, the iris is brown, the legs begin to turn red.

Down outfit. The top of the head (forehead, crown, back of the head) is brownish-brown, the cheeks and the spot behind the eye are creamy buffy. A narrow black stripe runs from the eye to the back of the head, delimiting the “cap”. The back is motley, dark brown down forms 3 longitudinal stripes of more intense color than the top of the head. Between them there are areas covered with long grayish-silver down. The wing has elongated, slightly buffy downs. The chin, throat and sides of the neck are almost white with a faint yellowish tint. The rest of the underside of the body is covered with long white down, tinged with a creamy color. The beak is yellowish at the apex and dark at the base. The egg tooth is white. Legs slightly pinkish.

Structure and dimensions

The wings are blunt, rounded, the tail is of moderate length, slightly rounded. Males differ from females by the presence of spurs. Visual identification of 329 chukars caught in the south-east of Kazakhstan, followed by dissection and sex determination, showed that out of 191 males, the sex of 187 individuals (97.8%) was correctly determined by the presence of spurs, and only 4 birds with spurs turned out to be females. At the same time, out of 138 females, the sex of 125 birds (90.6%) was correctly determined by the absence of spurs, and 13 birds without spurs turned out to be males. Among the 56 adult females studied in this regard, spurs were found in 10, and in 7 they were found on only one of the paws.

The wing length of males is 152–175, females 142–162. Tail length in males and females is 80–90, metatarsus 43–47. The weight of males is 450–700, females 360–550.

Shedding

The chukar does not have clearly demarcated age attires. Already in 2-day-old downy chicks, the stumps of the 7 primary flight feathers of the juvenile plumage are clearly visible, and by the age of one month the plumage already consists of 3 plumage - the remnants of the downy feathers, the developed juvenile feathers and the first feathers of the adult plumage (the stump of the 9th primary flight feathers, which already belongs to the adult plumage, appears along). On the 6th day of life, the webs of the first five primary flight feathers begin to develop; the 2nd–10th secondary flight feathers are represented by tassels. At the same time, the tassels of the tail feathers, large and medium wing coverts are deployed. During the first 4 weeks, flight feathers, tail feathers and contour feathers grow intensively on a significant part of the body. By the end of the 4th week, the downy plumage is retained only on the head, belly and rump - it is immediately replaced by the feathers of the definitive plumage, bypassing the stage of juvenile plumage.

In adult birds, one summer-autumn moult is clearly expressed, the duration of which is 4–4.5 months. Its timing depends on participation in incubation. Individuals that do not participate in it or have lost their clutches unite in flocks and begin molting. Brooding birds begin molting only 10–15 days after the chicks hatch. A wide strip of stumps appears on the midline of the abdomen, and a few days later they appear on the sides of the neck, back and chest. At the same time, the molting of the flight feathers and tail feathers begins. The change of primary flight feathers occurs in the distal direction from the 1st to the 10th. The secondary flight feathers begin to replace each other after the primary flight feathers 1–4 have grown sufficiently. Individual deviations are observed in the molting of secondary flight feathers - the change of feathers can begin with any of the first 4 secondary flight feathers.

Thus, among 19 individuals from the Dzungarian Alatau, the beginning of the change of secondary flight feathers from the 1st or from the 1st and 2nd feathers was noted in 2 individuals (10.5%), from the 2nd or from the 2nd and 3rd - in 6 (31.5%), from the 3rd or 4th - in 3 individuals (15.8%). In 8 birds the feathers were already so thick that it was impossible to establish the order of change. In 5 individuals (26.4%) the 2nd, 3rd and 4th were of equal length, and in 3 individuals (15.8%) the 1st, 2nd and 3rd were the longest. The molt of the proximal secondaries occurs somewhat later. More often it starts from the 10th feather, but sometimes from the 9th and goes, as a rule, in 2 directions - distal and proximal.

Cases of some delay in molting of shoulder feathers have been noted. In general, there are still many unclear aspects in the molting of adult birds. In winter and spring, there are individuals that have individual stumps and tassels remaining in the neck and back (Dementyev, 1952; Kartashev, 1952; Kuzmina, 1955). In the Chu-Ili Mountains in February, out of 50 specimens examined, molting was noted in 5, and in April in 28 birds out of 40 (70%), and the nature of this molting remains unclear (Kuzmina, 1955).

Subspecies taxonomy

Geographical variability is clinal in nature and is manifested in variations in the color shades of various parts of the plumage and slightly in overall size. Of the 15 known subspecies, 6 live on the territory of the USSR (Stepanyan, 1975) A. k. kurdestanica Meinertzhagen, 1923 is distributed along the Main Caucasus Range, Transcaucasia and Talysh. A.k. shestoperovi Sushkin, 1927, lighter in color than the previous form, is found from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea east to the ridge. Gyaz-Gedyk, north to the Mangyshlak Peninsula and south to the state border of the USSR. A.k. koroviakovi Zarudny, 1914, distributed east of the previous form to Kugitang and the Baysun ridge.

Nominative subspecies A. k. kakelik (Falk, 1786) (A. k. falki Hartert, 1917 - synonym of the nominative form - R.P.) inhabits the Pamir-Alai system (except for southern Badakhshan) and Tien Shan. A.k. pallescens Hume, 1873, light and dull in color, inhabits the southern part of Badakhshan south of the river valley. Vanch. A.k. dzungarica Sushkin, 1927 is distributed in the Dzungarian Alatau, Tarbagatai, Saur, Western and Southern Altai, Western Tannu-Ola. In border areas, subspecies intergradate.

Notes on taxonomy

The name given to the species by Falk should be finally accepted once and for all. It meets all the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1966), for it is accompanied by a description of the most characteristic features in the color of the species (red beak, legs and ring around the eyes), voice (“kakelik. . kakelik. .”) and an indication of its distribution (mountains the then eastern Bukhara, as well as the Tien Shan and Dzungaria). Of course, this description is much less accurate than that subsequently given by Gray based on specimens from India, but this is not at all a reason to deny it, and even more so, the name given by Falk cannot be considered a nomen nudum (Kartashev, 1952). As for the species differences between the chukar and the European rock partridge, Alektoris graeca Meisner, 1804, long before Watson (Watson, 1962), this had already been done in 1907 by V. L. Bianchi (ed. note - R. P. ).

Spreading

The distribution area of ​​the chukar is very extensive - from the Balkan Peninsula, the islands of the Aegean Sea, Crete and Asia Minor east to Altai and Northern China. The northern border runs along the Rhodope Mountains, the southern coast of the Black Sea, the northern slope of the Main Caucasus Range, the Mangyshlak Peninsula, the southern cliff of Ustyurt, the ridge. Kara-Tau, northern slopes of the Tien Shan and Chu-Ili mountains, Dzhungar Alatau, Tarbagatai, Saur, Southern Altai, Western Tannu-Ola, Khangai, ridge. Khurhu. The southern border runs along the southeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, the south of the Middle East, southern Iran, Pakistan, northern India, and the northwestern parts of the PRC provinces of Sichuan and Shanxi (Fig. 12).

Figure 12.

Within the USSR, the chukar is distributed along the Main Caucasus Range, in the Transcaucasus (including Talysh), in the western and central Kopetdag, the Greater Balkhans, western Uzboy, along the Ustyurt ridge, on the Mangyshlak Peninsula, along the hills of Badkhyz and, possibly, along the cliffs of the upper reaches Tedzhen and Murghab rivers. Lives in the mountain uplifts of the Kyzylkum desert (Aristanbeltau, Kuygentau, Aktau, Tokhtatau), the Khoja Baba and Baysuntau mountains. Inhabits the Pamir-Alai Mountains (except for the Pamir Highlands - see: Potapov, 1966), the Tien Shan system, the Chu-Ili Mountains, the Dzungarian Alatau, Tarbagatai, Saur, Western and Southern Altai, Western Tannu-Ola (Fig. 13).

Figure 13.
1 - Alectoris kakelik caucasica, 2 - A. k. laptevi, 3 - A. k. shestoperovi, 4 - A. k. kakelik, 5 - A. k. pallescens, 6 - A. k. dzungarica. (Question mark - unconfirmed indications of finds.)

The northern and northeastern boundaries of the range are not fully understood. There are occurrences of this species on the western shore of the Aral Sea south of Keratamak (collections of Burachek from 21 IV 1924, coll. ZIN AS USSR) and in the Sayans (collections of A. Ya. Tugarinov from 24 IX 1908 near the village of Tyurboty, 30 km from the river Kemchik; collections of S. I. Snigirevsky from the Abakan III river 1936, Col. ZIN AS USSR). There are also specimens received from the Abakan procurement office in January-April 1936, which could have come here from western Tannu-Ola. The question of the habitat of the chukar in Mugodzhary (Zarudny, 1888), Ulutau (Pavlov, 1934), in the vicinity of Semipalatinsk and in Semeitau (Khakhlov, Selevin, 1928) still needs clarification.

Acclimatized in the mountains of Crimea.

Wintering

Winter is the most difficult period in the life of chukars. Deep snow limits the movement of birds and significantly reduces feeding areas. When walking on snow, the weight load on the track is 43–51 g per cm2 for the partridge, as a result of which the bird gets deeply stuck (Kuzmina, 1955). In search of food, birds are forced to move to the southern slopes, where the snow cover is less deep and there are areas that quickly clear of it. Frequent snowfalls with prolonged frosts lead to the death of chukars from lack of food. Sometimes, under such conditions, migration of chukar chukars from the mountains to the plains was observed. If the winter is not very severe, then chukars prefer to stay in the same places. For example, in the Chulak Mountains (Kazakhstan) in winter, 128 birds were marked at feeding sites, of which 15 were caught again there after 2–10 days, 13 were marked or caught after 62–422 days, and only 2 moved a distance of 300 and 1 500 m. Bird tagging also made it possible to establish the exchange of birds between different flocks.

The daily life of the chukar in winter comes down to foraging. Only on clear, relatively warm days can they be seen sitting motionless on the tops of rocks. Even in the pre-dawn twilight, the voices of chukars can be heard from their roosting areas. Roll call usually takes a few minutes. With sunrise, there is a revival among the flocks and the birds begin to fly to the foot of the slopes and to the bottom of gorges, where there are places free from snow. This is where the birds spend most of the day. In the evening, they rise to overnight sites located under rock overhangs or at the edge of bushes. Sometimes, throughout the winter, a flock spends the night in the same place, which is covered with a thick layer of droppings. Some flocks do not leave areas of 200–300 m in size during the day. They rarely visit watering holes in winter, rather by accident; they satisfy the need for water by pecking at snow. They wait out heavy snowfalls in bushes or under rock overhangs. In cases of prolonged bad weather, they may fast for 2–3 days. Before snowfalls, they feed intensively until the snow covers the bare areas of the ground. Of special note is the interesting message of R. G. Pfeffer, who observed in the winter of 1974/1975. in the Almaty Nature Reserve behind a small flock of chukar chukars of 10–15 birds, which regularly fed in the daytime at the foot of the slope among the dried stems of the tartar. Here, an area of ​​15x15 m under a layer of snow was dug up with passages, and sometimes, when approaching, it was necessary to scare away birds flying up from under the snow. According to R. G. Pfeffer, chukars made passages in the snow in search of tartar seeds.

By the end of February, when there are more areas exposed to snow, chukars stop meeting in large flocks (in winter, 100–150 birds are sometimes concentrated in especially feeding areas) and by the beginning of March they begin to break up into pairs.

Migrations

Along with the well-known vertical migrations that take place in autumn and spring, movements of many tens of kilometers are known in Tajikistan, which can be considered as long-distance flights (Popov, 1959). They begin already in early September from the depths of the mountains of Kuhistan and end in December after reaching wintering sites in the low mountains of southern Tajikistan. These movements are caused by the deep snow cover that forms in the mountains of Central Tajikistan in winter. The amount of atmospheric precipitation in the nesting areas of migratory chukar populations (800–1,400 mm per year) is 3–4 times higher than in wintering areas. The spring return of chukars to Kukhistan occurs in May, but due to the large mortality of birds during migration and in wintering grounds, their return movement is little noticeable. Such migratory populations of chukar in the mountains of Central Tajikistan (Popov, 1959; Kovalev, Popov, 1980) are so far the only ones of their kind and are unknown in other parts of the range.

Habitat

Keklik is a typical bird of the rugged terrain of the steppe, semi-desert and desert zones of the Palaearctic. Its extensive range covers areas that differ greatly in relief, climatic conditions and vegetation, which emphasizes the ecological plasticity of the species. Within the USSR, it inhabits areas from the plains of Turkmenistan, where it lives on the cliffs of clayey hills (Dementyev, 1952), to the alpine meadows of the Pamirs at altitudes up to 4,000 m above sea level. m. (Stepanyan, 1969). Chukars are most common and numerous in the altitude range of 500–2,000 m above sea level. m. Nesting in the alpine belt is unknown. The most typical for the species are low mountain groups located in deserts and steppes, as well as steppe, forest-meadow-steppe and subalpine belts of large mountain ranges.

With an exceptional diversity of habitats, the chukar still prefers gorges with rocky outcrops and slopes, where rocky screes alternate with open grassy areas, sometimes overgrown with bushes. The presence of watering places (mountain rivers, streams, springs) plays an important role; in exceptional cases, birds can use bitter-salty water. In a number of places, chukars are found in conditions completely unusual for them - for example, on plains among sands at a considerable distance from the nearest mountains (Serzhpinsky, 1925; Molchanov, 1932; Shnitnikov, 1949; Ishadov, 1970).

In the Caucasus, the chukar inhabits a variety of biotopes from dry mountain slopes and foothills up to 3,500 m above sea level. m., where it lives in placers near glaciers (Satunin, 1907). Along treeless rocky areas of the mountains, it descends almost to the plain, where it is found nesting among the bushes together with the black trout. However, this species always prefers foothill slopes or mountain river gorges with rocky outcrops and scree, where sparse xerophytic vegetation predominates. Less commonly, it occupies meadows on the northern slopes with juniper open forests, avoiding, as a rule, damp areas with rich vegetation.

In Kopetdag, the chukar lives in small gorges at altitudes of 500–600 m, sometimes rising to the extreme heights of the ridge (2,000 m above sea level), but sticking to places where there are watering places. The lower limit of distribution here lies in the wormwood-ephemeral semi-desert, and the upper limit is associated with areas of mountain xerophytes. In addition, chukar is also found among shrubby vegetation distributed from the foothills of the mountains to their peaks - in juniper forests, thickets of tragacanth astragalus, other shrubs growing near screes and rocks, among thickets of wild grapes, blackberries and various fruit trees and shrubs (Fedorov, 1949). It also inhabits the steep sandy shores of Uzboy in the area of ​​fresh lakes, where it is found among saxaul and sandy acacia (Molchanov, 1932).

The chukar chukar reaches its greatest heights in the USSR in Badakhshan. In the Shahdara valley, the upper limit of its distribution lies at altitudes of about 4,000 m above sea level. m. Here the chukar is found throughout the river basin, but its numbers are small; the highest density was observed at altitudes of 2,300–2,600 m above sea level. m. In these high-mountain conditions, birds lead a sedentary lifestyle and stay during the nesting period and in winter on rocky slopes and moraines among screes (Stepanyan, 1969).

In the Tien Shan, the lower limit of the vertical distribution of the partridge lies at an altitude of 300 m, while the upper limit reaches 3,600 m above sea level. m. Here the birds live sedentary, making only small movements. They inhabit rocky slopes covered with xerophytic herbs and berry bushes (cherry, cotoneaster, honeysuckle, ephedra). In large mountain ranges, chukars are found from the foot of the ridges up to 3,600 m, and in the Kyrgyz ridge they are found in small numbers near the eternal snow (Spangenberg, Sudilovskaya, 1959), but are absent, however, from the syrts, in the basin of Lake. Sonkel and other high-mountain valleys of the Central Tien Shan (Yanushevich et al., 1959).

In the Kyrgyz Alatau, the chukar nests in rosehip thickets, on the edges of deciduous and coniferous forests, among rocks and screes. In autumn, flocks are more often found in bushes on mountain slopes or river banks. In Talas Alatau it lives from the cultural zone to the subalpine (1,000–3,000 m above sea level). Inhabits dry rocky slopes with sparse herbaceous vegetation and sparse shrubs. Common in juniper open forests. Sometimes it nests at the foot of the mountains in areas devoid of rocky outcrops with vegetation of a meadow rather than steppe nature (Kovshar, 1966).

In the Zeravshan, Turkestan and Gissar ranges it inhabits rocky slopes with thickets of bushes, less often on treeless rocks and screes and even less often on grassy slopes. The limits of altitudinal distribution in these ridges are 1,200–3,500 m above sea level. m.

In the Dzhungar Alatau ridges, chukar chukar are most numerous at altitudes of 500–1,500 m above sea level. m., where it inhabits desert, steppe and forest-meadow-steppe zones. It is found in large numbers in the western spurs (mountains Chulak and Malay-Sary), bordering the gravelly desert. Inhabits rocky gorges with extensive rocky screes and areas of herbaceous and shrubby vegetation, among shrubs of boyalych, ephedra, meadowsweet, curly lanceolate and hawthorn.

On the Malay-Sary mountain plateau, the chukar inhabits narrow gorges overlooking the plateau, which is used for sowing grain crops. After the harvest is completed, the birds feed on the remaining grain. On hr. Altyn-Emel chukar rises to a height of 2,000 m above sea level. m., where the vegetation has some northern flavor and is represented by deciduous trees, forming a dense urema of birches, willows and bird cherry along the rivers. Along the streams there are areas with permanently green grass. High numbers of birds and small fluctuations in numbers occur in the lower zones of large mountain ranges up to 2,000 m above sea level. m. Here birds find the most suitable conditions for existence.

Number

Information on the number of chukar chukar in various areas is very scarce. In the Central Kopetdag, the total number of birds was determined to be 121,000, i.e. 810 broods (Laptev, 1936). Over the past 20 years, surveys of this species have been carried out mainly in hunting areas. The study of long-term dynamics of the chukar population on permanent routes was carried out from 1972 to 1976. at the end of August - mid-October in the southeast of Kazakhstan. In the chronology Karatau, the number of birds counted per 1 km of route changed quite significantly during this period. The results of the surveys showed that the largest numbers of chukar were noted in the Karatau and Altyn-Emel ridges, where the growth of numbers was hampered by unfavorable conditions of certain winters. The highest density of birds was noted in the Kyrgyz Alatau, where the number, although it underwent some changes over the years, remained high.

Reproduction

Daily activity, behavior

The daily activity of the chukar is clearly divided into 2 periods - day and night. During the daylight hours, birds are especially active in the morning and evening hours. In summer, at sunrise, chukars are often found feeding, and during the hottest hours of the day they rest in the shade of bushes or rocks. With the onset of evening coolness, their activity increases again and, feeding, they gradually rise to the upper parts of the slopes, where they spend the night. Rainfall greatly reduces the activity of birds, and they wait it out in the bushes, and when the bad weather subsides, they feed near these places.

A characteristic feature of the life of chukars in late summer and early autumn is regular visits to watering holes. At dawn, flocks descend to springs and rivers, often covering the distance by air. Watering places are open areas of the banks of rivers, springs, or talus gently sloping down to the water. On hot days, they often rest in the bushes closest to the watering hole, where they bathe in dust baths that resemble nest trays without building material.

Chukars are social birds and spend most of the year in flocks. Only during the breeding season, and even then not all of them, live in pairs. At the end of the mating season, individuals that do not participate in incubating clutches and raising young animals unite in flocks. After the chicks hatch, the broods live either in separate flocks or unite in larger flocks, which usually do not differ in great constancy. For example, in late August and early September, flocks of up to 100 individuals are often found in particularly feeding areas on mountain slopes and gorges, but when disturbed, they easily disintegrate. Flocks of adult birds, separated in June and consisting of females who have lost clutches and males who do not participate in incubation, disintegrate only by the next spring, which is confirmed by the capture of marked birds. Such flocks usually do not contain more than 8–12 individuals.

Nutrition

Information on the diet of the chukar within the USSR is quite extensive and the total number of studied birds exceeds 2000. The nutrition of the chukar has been most fully studied in the Dzhungar Alatau (Kuzmina, 1955), in the northern Tien Shan (Kuzmina, 1955), in the Kopetdag (Rustamov, 1945; Fedorov , 1949; Kogan, 1950), in the western Tien Shan (Ostapenko, 1958; 1965; Kovshar, 1966; Salikhbaev et al., 1970), in the Pamir-Alai (Minin, 1939; Popov, 1959; Ivanov, 1969; Abdusalyamov , 1971), as well as in the Caucasus (Dal, 1949; Khanmamedov, 1955).

311 species of higher plants from 53 families, as well as mosses and algae, have been recorded in the food of the chukar. The main animal food consists of 132 species of insects from 36 families of 10 orders. Mollusks are found much less frequently (10 species), and, as an exception, spiders are eaten. In terms of occurrence, diversity of species composition and volume, plant food in the chukar’s diet significantly prevails over animal food. In general, the ratio of plant and animal food among chukars in Kazakhstan is expressed by the following figures. Only plant food was found in 1,076 birds (77.3%), mixed food in 309 (22.1%), and exclusively animal food in 8 birds (0.6%). Among plant foods, representatives of 9 main families can be distinguished: cereals 35 species (58.3% of occurrence), Rosaceae 26 (26%), Liliaceae 21 (25.6%), Amaryllisaceae 2 (23.7%), Borageaceae 26 (15.2%), Umbellaceae 14 ( 13.1%), Asteraceae 36 (13.1%), Legumes 31 (12.7%), Buckwheat 8 (12.5%). The remaining families in the chukar food make up less than 10% of the occurrence. The main animal foods are represented by the orders of Orthoptera (22 species), Coleoptera (56 species) and Hemiptera (33 species).

All chukar food can be divided into 4 groups: 1 - seeds and fruits (including berries) of herbaceous plants and shrubs; 2 - green parts of plants (leaves, stems, flowers); 3 - underground parts of plants (bulbs, tubers, roots, rhizomes); 4- invertebrate animals (insects, spiders, mollusks).

Of all groups of plant foods, seeds occupy the most important place in terms of frequency of occurrence and diversity of species composition (178 species in 35 families). The basis of this group of food is the seeds of cereals (25 species), borage (21 species), cruciferous (10 species), lily and goosefoot (9 species each). The remaining families are represented by a smaller number of species. Throughout the year, seeds make up a significant part of the food, with the exception of the spring months, when there are few seeds left after winter. A particularly large number of seeds are eaten in the second half of summer and autumn, when molting birds after breeding require a particularly nutritious and varied diet. Long-term preservation of seeds largely provides food for birds in winter.

Of the underground parts of plants, the chukar's diet includes bulbs, tubers, basal bulbs and roots of herbaceous plants of 25 species (9 families), especially onions, goose onions, tulips, but in terms of frequency of occurrence, the first place is occupied by the basal bulbs of cereals (bulbous bluegrass and bulbous barley ) and amaryllis bulbs (ixiorillion and unhernia). Quite often, tubers of geranium and umbrella plants (Scaligeria) are found in the food of the chukar. In winter, obtaining deep-lying bulbs and tubers is difficult due to soil freezing, and birds use only the basal bulbs of the bulbous bluegrass.

Green food is quite diverse and is represented by 61 species from 18 families of higher plants. The bulk of them are cereals, as well as Asteraceae (15 species, including 5 types of wormwood, dandelions), legumes (13 species, including 4 types of astragalus, creeping clover, alfalfa, peas, two types of licorice, etc.). In addition, there are representatives of the goosefoot, umbrella, and borage species.

In spring (March-April), greens and ephemeral flowers are the main food group in the diet of chukars. Among this group, special mention should be made of various types of lilies (Alleum, Gagea, Tulipa), saffron, bulbous bluegrass and ixiolirion.

Berries play a small role in the diet compared to other groups of plant foods. The limited species composition, relatively low occurrence and short period of use make the berries clearly a secondary food. In total, berries from 25 species from 11 families are found in the chukar’s food. The most commonly eaten are cherries, hawthorns, rosehips, and cotoneasters. Berries of oleraceae, nightshade, mulberry, honeysuckle, barberry, and grape are noted in the diet of the chukar in relatively small areas. During the period of mass ripening, berries in most areas become the main food for a short time, displacing all other types of food.

Due to their nutritional value, animal feeds occupy a special place in the chukar’s diet. For example, eating shellfish in the spring helps replenish the loss of calcium necessary for the formation of egg shells. Of the insects, the most commonly eaten are orthoptera, mainly locusts (16 species). Of the Coleoptera, the most commonly consumed are elephant beetles (23 species) and leaf beetles (14 species), as well as other beetles that are not precisely identified. Hemiptera are less common, but in terms of species composition they are second only to Coleoptera and are eaten en masse by the chukar only in places of aggregation. For example, in November-December 1978 in the Trans-Ili Alatau (Zhamanty Gorge), bedbugs were observed in the diet of 17 out of 61 individuals. The bulk of bedbugs was represented by Dolicoris penicillatus, which in some birds accounted for 40–85% of the contents of the crop. Other species of bedbugs are also noted here: Euridema ornata, Emlethis spp., Corizus hyoscyami, Corioneris histicornis, Sciocoris deltocephalus.

In the southeast of Kazakhstan, animal food is present in the food of the chukar (occurrence 13.4%) from August to January (most often in August and December). Usually this type of food is found as a small addition to plant food, but in some individuals it can account for 50–85% and, as an exception (1 case), even 100% of the contents of the crop. Of the insects in the fall, locusts are especially often eaten (30%), the second place in the frequency of occurrences is occupied by bugs (27.7%), which are present in the diet from October to December, but are observed in the greatest numbers in November-December. Probably, birds find insects at this time in places where they gather in large numbers during the wintering grounds.

Beetles in the chukar's diet were noted from October to November (occurrence 24.4%), and they are most often found in October. Ants are eaten in small numbers from August to October (12.2% of encounters), mollusks - in September-November.

In summer, the food of adults is the most diverse compared to other seasons of the year; usually, 2–3 groups of food can be found in each crop. Animal feed during this period constitutes a relatively small part. In only one case, 17 mollusks Ponsadenia semenowi (30% of the contents of the crop weighing 19 g) were found in the crop of a brooding female.

In the southeast of Kazakhstan, underground parts of plants, which predominate in the diet in August-September, give way at a later date to seeds and greens - the main food of the winter season. The process of changing food is determined not only by the abundance of the latter at a given time. The reduction of underground parts of plants in the diet occurs long before snow falls, when this type of food becomes less available. In general, it should be noted that when there is an abundance of food, chukars exhibit a fairly high selective ability, preferring only certain foods and certain types of plants.

In different parts of the vast range within the USSR, the average share of seeds, underground parts of plants and greens in the annual diet of the chukar is approximately the same and is more than 2 times greater than the share of berries and animal feed. However, significant changes in the composition of the diet occur depending on the season. Thus, the proportion of seeds and underground parts of plants changes 4–5 times throughout the year, reaching a maximum in July-August and a minimum in April. On the contrary, green food is consumed most actively in March-April and most rarely in June and July. The occurrence of animal feed varies 12 times, with a maximum in June-August. Berries, although completely absent in January, were found in more than 40% of individuals in August.

The nutrition of chicks in our country has not been studied enough. Only in the Dzungarian Alatau the contents of the crops and stomachs of 36 chicks aged from 2 days to 1 month were determined (Ostapenko, 1958). The food of the chicks in the first month of life was very varied here. Mainly insects were eaten (locusts, chickweeds, song cicadas, leafhoppers, ladybugs, golden beetles, weevils, darkling beetles, lamellar beetles, flies, ants), as well as mollusks. Among plant foods, seeds of buckwheat, sweet clover, and shrenkia are noted. The chicks also ate berries of ephedra and wild cherry, and from the underground parts of plants in their food only Ixiolirion bulbs were noted and from green food - pieces of leaves of herbaceous plants.

In one of the 2-day-old chicks, locust larvae, small particles of dipterans and ants were found in the food composition. The crop of the second chick was empty, and small remains of plant seeds and small gastroliths were found in the stomach. A 5-day-old chick had only seeds in its crop, and their ground remains in its stomach. In addition to the larvae of locusts and dipterans, the 8-day-old chick was found to have a leafhopper, a ladybird, a borer, a weevil and a darkling beetle, and the remains of animal and plant food were found in the stomach. An 11-day-old chick's food contains underground parts of plants - small bulbs of Ixiolirion, as well as bugs and plant seeds. Chicks (5 individuals) at the age of 14–21 days ate ephedra berries and wild cherries, and large beetles (ground beetles) among animals. Buckwheat seeds were also found in their crops.

By the end of the first month of life, the composition of the food becomes more and more diverse: greens and various shellfish, sweet clover seeds and Velcro appear. As before, bugs, orthoptera, beetles, ephedra berries and ixiolirion bulbs are eaten, but in larger quantities. The average mass of gastroliths in the stomachs of such chicks is 0.5 g. At 1.5-2 months of age, the ratio of animal and plant foods in the chukar’s diet gradually levels out and at 3 months of age is not much different from the food of adults.

Economic importance, protection

Hunting for chukars in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Kakhastan has long been very popular. In the 30s During the current century, this valuable species of game was also commercially harvested, supplied not only to domestic but also to foreign markets. Only through the Leningrad export base in 1927–1928. 166.7 thousand pieces passed through (13.6% of all game processed there), the next winter - 198.1 thousand (17.9%), and in several subsequent winters - more than 70 thousand annually, with the maximum number of birds per winter (1930–1931). ) amounted to 233.2 thousand (Rudanovsky, Nasimovich, 1933, - cited in: Grachev, 1983). According to far incomplete data, chukar chukar in 1962–1963. occupied second place in production in Kazakhstan after gray partridge, and in 1965 - first.

During the hunting seasons of 1962–1965. From 16 to 53 thousand pieces were mined annually (Kondratenko, Smirnov, 1973). In “fruitful” years, chukar becomes the main species of mountain game hunted in the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan and has a significant weight in the total volume of game birds shot. Planned procurement is currently not carried out. Many gunless methods of extraction, described earlier in the literature (Buturlin, 1932; Naumov, 1931; Popov, 1956), have lost their significance or are inapplicable due to the great damage caused to populations. The main line of use for chukar is currently sporting rifle hunting.

The optimal time for hunting chukar is the second half of November to the first half of December, when the birds have their maximum weight (adult males 613 g, adult females 504, young males and females 553 and 475 g, respectively).

The peculiar nesting biology of the chukar contributes to the maintenance of high numbers of the species in favorable years and, what is especially important, to the rapid increase in the population after a mass death. Considering the economic importance of the chukar as one of the main hunting objects in the mountains of the southern USSR, one should treat its stock very carefully. This implies maintaining constant records of the number of livestock, basic biotechnical measures during severe snowy winters (mainly feeding) and a ban on hunting for periods of at least 3 years after particularly harsh winters.

Appearance . About the size of an average crow. The plumage is ash-gray-pinkish, on the sides there are transverse stripes of three colors: white, brown and black. A distinctive feature is a light spot on the throat, around which there is a black stripe passing through the eyes to the forehead. The paws are pink, there is a red ring around the eyes, and the beak is the same color.

Lifestyle . The chukar lives in foothill deserts and on rocky mountain slopes devoid of vegetation. A common, even numerous bird that leads a sedentary lifestyle.

Monogamous, but does not always live in pairs, sometimes gathering in small flocks. For nesting it selects areas practically devoid of vegetation. These can be rocky slopes, scree, gorges. The nest is located in some crevice, niche, or directly on the ground, under the cover of stones or bushes.

In mid-April, from 7 to 11 eggs appear in it, of a special creamy ocher color with fuzzy small streaks. It flies quickly, can maneuver well, but never lands on trees. Spends most of its time on the ground, where it collects food - insects and young shoots of plants. Sensing danger, it does not take off, but quickly runs up the mountain slope. Extremely careful. Very noisy, often screams loudly, increasing the tempo “kok... kok... kok-kok-kok.” Is the object of hunting.

A similar species is the desert partridge, but it is smaller and does not have a spot on its throat.

Desert partridge (Ammoperdix griseagularis)

Appearance . Even smaller than a pigeon. The plumage is gray with a pink tint, yellow on the belly, and oblique stripes of black and brown on the sides. A distinctive feature is a light stripe with black edges on the eyes. The beak is orange. The color of the plumage in females is duller, and there are no stripes on the eyes.

Lifestyle . The desert partridge inhabits mountainous desert areas. Already a small, sedentary bird. Can be found in pairs or small flocks. Nesting areas are loess, interrupted by rare rocks, rocky mountain slopes, almost devoid of vegetation. In the nest, located directly on the ground under stones, from 8 to 12 ocher-colored eggs appear in mid-May. They fly very rarely and not far, they move mainly on the ground, running away from danger up the mountain slope, hiding between rocks. The voice of the desert partridge resembles a whistling “tee-pee... tee-pee”, and sometimes a loud sound - “kwak-kwak-kwak”. But in general, the bird is very silent. It uses seeds and buds of plants and insects as food. Hunting for it is not popular.